Iced Coffee, The Italian Way

Iced coffee isn’t just an American phenomenon. The Italians are into iced coffee, too, but they’ve put their own spin on it. While Italians love to linger over a meal, that same laid-back attitude doesn’t apply to making their iced caffè. Italians don’t let hot coffee hang around to cool off and,Dio mio, they wouldn’t think of making cold brew. Their choice? A shakerato (shock-eh-RAH-toe): Hot caffè shaken with ice to chill it quickly. What follows is the basic method for making Caffè Shakerato along with five variations.

- Make the same way as Caffè Shakerato but sweeten with Italian almond syrup, known in Italy as latte di mandorla (not be confused with American-style almond milk). Orgeat syrup is similar to almond syrup, but some versions include a bit of orange or rose essence.

Caffè Freddo alla Vaniglia

- Make the same way as Caffè Shakerato but sweeten with vanilla syrup or vanilla liqueur.